A Los Angeles Police Department car with lights and sirens going rushes through the intersection at Florence and Normandy Avenues in South Los Angeles on April 27, 2012 in Los Angeles, California.
Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

Los Angeles police intentionally over-reported the number of officers or patrol cars available to answer service calls, according to a report released Friday by the inspector general of the Police Commission. The investigation found officers in at least five out of the LAPD's 21 patrol divisions to have engaged in the practice. Instead of patrolling the streets, they were at their stations performing a variety of tasks.

In addition, patrol cars that were supposed to be out responding to emergency calls were actually parked at the stations. LAPD requires that all service calls be addressed within seven minutes--a change put in place in reaction to criticism over the department's slow response time in the 1980s.